1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to educational devices. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a device for teaching children or those with learning disabilities to tell time.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
It is well-known that teaching one to tell time is one of the more difficult concepts to instill upon young people. As such, the need for devices which can make such a task easier is great. Human beings are a very visual species and therefore any method for teaching which brings a visual component will more likely speed the learning process. Further, the use of multiple avenues which bring home the same idea will also decrease the time it typically takes one to learn a particular topic.
The difficulty with teaching a child to tell time relates to the concept of motion of the clock's hands and the corresponding numerals on the clock face. Further the concept of a "little" hand and a "big" hand and the corresponding hours and minutes can be difficult to grasp. Several devices have attempted to relate the two concepts by providing a teaching device which links the hands of a clock face with corresponding numerals and or words. Such a device is believed to assist the child in understanding the relationship between the clock face and the time of day. These devices operate such that as the hands on the clock face are rotated, the corresponding numerals or words necessarily change. Such a method prevents a child from thinking independently with regard determining correspondence between the hands of the clock and the numbers which represent the hour and minute of the day.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,346 to Ogasawara discloses a teaching device for learning the manner in which a clock indicates time. This device includes a clock face having the hours of the day disposed thereon and an hour and a minute hand. The device also includes means for displaying numerals which are representative of the hour and minute of the day. As the clock hands are rotated means associated with the device automatically rotate the numerals to the corresponding hour and minute of the day. This device does not allow for independent movement of the clock hands and the means for displaying numerals which would correspond to the time indicated by the clock hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,364,599 to Polsky discloses an educational device for teaching time. The device includes three disc elements arranged one on top of the other. The bottom two discs are rotatable relative to each other and the top disc. The discs include various indicators of the time of day, including a clock face, numerals corresponding the hours and minutes of the day and words which also correspond to hours and minutes of the day. As the discs are rotated the hands of the clock are directed to different times of the day. At the same time, numerals and words corresponding to the clock hands are automatically displayed. As such, this device does not allow for independent display of the clock hand and other manners of indicating a time of day. Further, this device does not allow for separately changing the time according to the clock hands and according to the numerals representing the time of day.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,115 to Friday discloses an educational clock. This device includes an element which serves as the clock face. The clock face is imprinted in a conventional manner and carries an hour and minute hand. The device also includes an hour dial and a minute dial. The hour hand and the minute hand are mechanically connected to the hour dial and minute dial, respectively, such that as each hand is rotated the associated dial also rotates. As such, this device does not allow for rotation of the clock hands without associated rotation of the means for displaying numeric representation of the time of day and vice versa.
While these known devices provide a system for displaying the hours of the day as shown on the face of a clock and corresponding numerals or words which represent the time of day, such is done automatically. These devices do not allow for independent display of a time of day on the clock face and by way of numeric display. Such a device prohibits a teacher from requesting a student display a numeric display which corresponds to a clock face display and vice versa. These devices have the further drawback that mechanically linking the clock face to the numeric display requires a complex system which makes the device difficult to manufacture and prone to break.